Ryan was all too happy to abandon a home-grilled hot dog to open birthday presents one Sunday afternoon last month. His guests, which included his two brothers, cousins and some friends of various ages, raced inside and gathered around a large cake his mother, Becki, had ordered to celebrate the occasion.

The family was also celebrating the first birthday of Ryan’s 1-year-old brother, Griffin, but Ryan was the first allowed to dig into a gift bag. His eyes grew wide as he withdrew, first, a racing game for the Wii and, then, a few Hot Wheels toy cars.

“Woooow!” he said. “I love these!”

Meanwhile, his mother, Becki, stood back and supervised the activity in the family’s dining room — while also making sure the guests had enough food to eat, the carnival games in the backyard were ready for play and no one was roughhousing too much.

“I’ve found this can be overwhelming if you use a birthday party venue, so I decided we would have one party for both of them at home this year,” she said. “It can still be a little overwhelming, but if anything, it can end up being cheaper, and my budget is my friend.”

When throwing themed birthday parties for children, many families are taking their budgets into account and determining creative solutions. Marin, for example, said she utilized Google to get budget-friendly ideas for party themes and then gave Ryan — the older of the birthday boys — the choice.

“He was excited to have a carnival theme,” she said. “He wanted snow cones and hot dogs and carnival games.”

Tracey Burrel of Donald said she always tries to stay within $200 when planning a party for her son, Sam, 4.

“We go all out for the cake, because I think that’s the most important part of having a birthday,” she said, adding that she refuses to have the party at home because of the mess it’s sure to leave behind.

“We’ve had his party at other places,” she said. “This year his party will be at the park, which is free, and I’d rather clean up a mess there than in my house.”

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She said she also keeps her parties limited to no more than 12 children as guests to help stay within her budget.

“It gets too chaotic if there’s more,” she said, adding that last year’s party was themed to Transformers and this year’s party to Ben 10 — two things her son loves.

“It’s important that we let him help choose the theme because it’s his birthday, and I was lucky because I found a bunch of Ben 10 items on sale,” she said.

Michelle Ward of Greenville said that a budget is important, but she won’t let it stop her from going all out when planning her 2½-year-old twins’ birthday parties.

“My parents were always big on parties, so I’m the same way,” she said. “Since the twins are so young, we do it as much for the adults as the kids.”

She said the theme of her sons’ first birthday party was Winnie the Pooh and their second party was themed to Clemson tailgating with a special guest — Barney the dinosaur.

“It was a lot of fun,” she said. “We were lucky because we were able to get the Barney costume from the South Carolina Children’s Theater and my husband dressed up. Everyone who came enjoyed it.”